National News
Delegates working to end global plastics pollution agree to craft a draft treaty
ANGELA CHARLTON and JENNIFER MCDERMOTT Associated Press PARIS (AP) — Global negotiators have agreed to craft a draft treaty to end plastic pollution, a preliminary but crucial step toward tackling one of the most lasting sources of human waste. Environmental advocates cautiously welcomed the outcome of five days of U.N. talks in Paris on plastic…
Read MoreIndia train crash kills over 280, injures 900
RAFIQ MAQBOOL, ASHOK SHARMA and KRUTIKA PATHI Associated Press BALASORE, India (AP) — Rescuers found no more survivors in the overturned and mangled wreckage of two passenger trains that derailed in eastern India, killing more than 280 people and injuring hundreds in one of the country’s deadliest rail crashes in decades, officials said Saturday. Chaotic…
Read MoreUS wants to engage Russia on nuclear arms control
AAMER MADHANI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is ready to talk to Russia without conditions about a future nuclear arms control framework even while taking countermeasures in response to the Kremlin’s decision to suspend the last nuclear arms control treaty between the two countries, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said…
Read MoreEarth is ‘really quite sick now’ and in danger zone in nearly all ecological ways, study says
SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer Earth has pushed past seven out of eight scientifically established safety limits and into “the danger zone,” not just for an overheating planet that’s losing its natural areas, but for the well-being of people living on it, according to a new study. The study looks not just at guardrails for…
Read MoreExclusive secrets of the National Spelling Bee: Picking the words to identify a champion
BEN NUCKOLS Associated Press OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — As the final pre-competition meeting of the Scripps National Spelling Bee’s word selection panel stretches into its seventh hour, the pronouncers no longer seem to care. Before panelists can debate the words picked for the bee, they need to hear each word and its language of…
Read MoreCalifornia rivers turn deadly as snow melts
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California rivers fed by this winter’s massive Sierra Nevada snowpack have been turned into deadly torrents, drawing warnings from public safety officials ahead of the Memorial Day weekend’s traditional start of outdoor summer recreation. At least seven people, including two children, have died or gone missing this spring in the grasp…
Read MoreJudge to sentence 2 Oath Keepers members after handing down punishment for group’s founder
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Two members of the Oath Keepers who stormed the U.S. Capitol in a military-style formation will be sentenced Friday, a day after the far-right extremist group’s founder received an 18-year prison term for seditious conspiracy and other charges in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack.…
Read MoreDebt default ‘X-date’ calculations aim to figure out when the US may run short of cash
By FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — For all the concern over just when the government might run short of money to pay its bills, it turns out that no one, not even the U.S. treasury secretary, can be absolutely sure exactly when the country faces a potential default — what officials are calling…
Read MoreRed Sea corals threatened by mass sea urchin die-off, Israeli researchers say
ILAN BEN ZION Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Sea urchins in Israel’s Gulf of Eilat have been dying off at an alarming rate, researchers announced Wednesday — a development that threatens the Red Sea’s prized coral reef ecosystems. According to Tel Aviv University scientists, an unknown pathogen is killing off the black sea urchin, Diadema…
Read MoreSome worshippers switching congregations amid United Methodist split over LGBTQ issues
PETER SMITH and HOLLY MEYER Associated Press The Rev. Bill Farmer reached the point where he couldn’t stay in the United Methodist Church anymore — but the congregation he attended was staying. Michael Hahn always wanted to stay in the UMC — but his congregation was leaving it. Each has found new church homes, and…
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